OAKLAND–Right to the transcript of Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen minutes after they selected LB Khalil Mack with the fifth overall pick.

Allen looked giddy. McKenzie was quiet and looked eager to get back to the draft room ASAP.

* Note: I only transcribed part of this, along with several other writers here at Raiders HQ.

—REGGIE McKENZIE and DENNIS ALLEN presser transcript/

-McKENZIE: We’re very excited with our first pick. It was a guy that we had targeted for quite some time, and it was a guy that we’re very excited to have.

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-Q: Are you surprised by the picks above you, surprised Mack fell to you?

-McKENZIE: Well, you know what? Anytime that you’re anxious and excited about getting a player, there’s always being anxious and wondering if he’s gonna come to you. I’m just extremely excited that Khalil Mack is a Raider.
-Q: Would you have taken him if you had the first pick?

-McKENZIE: I didn’t have the first pick. (laughter) We liked Khalil. We liked him a lot.

-Q: Did you have offers for No. 5?

-McKENZIE: We got some offers, even before our pick came. But no deal was presented, only interest. But once Khalil fell to us, we had a couple calls, at that point I wasn’t taking ’em.
-Q: Dennis, would you compare him to Von Miller, who you coached in Denver?

-ALLEN: Absolutely, I saw a lot of similarities between him and Von Miller.

And the thing that really was attractive about Khalil Mack was the fact that he understands how to rush the passer. And he understands how to rush the passer with power.

And to be successful in the National Football League in getting after the passer, I’ve made that statement several times about everything in the National Football League is about affecting the passer. Whether it be offensively with weapons, or whether it be defensively, getting after the passer.

He understands how to rush the passer, and yeah, I see a lot of similarities between he and Von Miller.

-Q: Did all the tape you had on him convince you the excitement level was there?

-McKENZIE: Yeah, we were very confident with not only the number of games but also in the league that he played in he was a real player on the field and he showed that. We don’t see anything but upside with him. He’s going to get better.
-Q: Do you envision him as an immediate starter with instant impact? How much did you get a chance to talk to him and what about his off the field?

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-McKENZIE: Let me answer the off the field and us talking to him. Off the field he’s A-1. There’s no issues with him at all.

As far as having the opportunity to talk to him, we spent a lot of time at the combine, I spent time with him at his pro day, so we got to know him pretty well. We talked with people close to him so we felt like we knew the kid very well.”

-Q: And his immediate impact?

-ALLEN: As far as the impact, I don’t think there’s any question… when we started this process we were totally clear that we wanted to add some impact players to our football team.

This is an impact player. This guy will have an impact on our football team for the 2014 season, there’s no question about that.

-Q: You guys talk about versatility, how does Khalil Mack fit into that?

-ALLEN: He can do everything that we’re going to ask him to do. So, we’re excited about the versatility, he’s a three-down player, and he’s gonna be able to do a lot of things that we’re going to ask him to do and have a huge impact on helping this defense and getting this defense where this defense needs to be.

-Q: Reggie, did your background as a linebacker play any part in what saw in Mack?

-McKENZIE: The thing with Khalil is the one thing that he can do is rush the passer. He plays very well on the line of scrimmage.

And as far as what I look for in the linebacker is the physicality. He can play strong and he can play with good extension, he uses his hands, and the fact that he’s big and he can run, that just added to his value. He’s a football player and I think he’s the total package.

-ALLEN: (Smiling.) I think he’s a little bit better than Reggie.

-Q: When it got to you at No. 5 was it clear it would be him, any give and take, maybe Mike Evans, maybe someone else?

-McKENZIE: There was zero back and forth. We knew who we wanted.

-Q: Coach Allen?

-ALLEN: Absolutely. This is a guy we targeted early in the draft process that we liked, that we wanted, and to be honest we feel fortunate that he was there when we got to the fifth pick.

-Q: Does he slot right in as the weak side linebacker?

-ALLEN: Allen: I’m not going to get into exactly where he’s going to play. I’ll tell you this–he’s going to obviously have a big role in what we’re going to do and he’ll be a guy that we’re going to use to send after the quarterback in a variety of different ways.

-Q: His hand on the ground sometimes?

-ALLEN: He’ll have his hand on the ground some, too. I envision his role being very similar to what we did with Von Miller.

-Q: Are you surprised Manziel’s still there, hasn’t been taken yet?

-McKENZIE: First of all, with all the media talk, I am surprised. But still, a team has to pick him. It’s all about who’s the best player at that particular time. Teams are picking other players. That’s just the way it is. If his value’s not there, I’m sure he’ll get picked at some point, soon.

-Q: Are you done for today?

-McKENZIE: We’re never done.

-Q: How do you make all these new pieces mesh so quickly?

-ALLEN: I think it started in the offseason with the acquisition of free agents that we were able to acquire. Not just players but the type players we were able to acquire.

We brought in a lot of veteran players that understand how to win championships, that have been a part of championship teams and they have been great team players for their respective clubs. That was the first part of being able to do that.

We’re going to continue to add some pieces. We’ve been at this thing now for three weeks with the offseason program. I think the team is beginning to come together pretty well and that will be a huge part of the process is taking a lot of roster turnover and developing that into instead of a group of individuals a team that can go out and win football games on Sundays. That’s part of the process. We’re excited about it.

-Q: You targeted him early, how early? Was it specific to your spot at 5 or was it just a guy you loved?

-ALLEN: This was a guy that when we met as a scouting staff and I was in there with them that this was a player that when we looked at him, we really liked the player.

As we continued to go throughout the process, we fell more in love with the player every time we had an exposure to him.

Where were we going to pick this guy? I don’t know. But the fact is that this was a guy we really liked and we wanted to add this guy to our football team.

Again, we felt fortunate that he was there at the fifth pick.

-Q: Was there one thing in particular besides his play that you really liked, maybe his football IQ?

-ALLEN: Well, the first thing I fell in love with was the tape. And I think that’s probably the most important thing.

But when you get an opportunity to sit down with a young man and visit with him and find out a little bit more about what he’s all about, he’s a real man.

He’s a real man, he’s a football first guy and he’s got tremendous work ethic and he’s a team player. Those are all things we look for in adding to our football team.

So this is not only a high quality football character guy but a high quality character guy off the field, too.

-Q: Reggie, you brought in Matt Schaub. But do you think the Raiders QB of the future might be in this draft?

-McKENZIE: Yes, there’s an opportunity for that. Yes.

-Q: Mack is somebody who maybe has a chip on his shoulder from not getting recruited heavily and you seem to have brought in a lot of guys like that this off-season? Is that part of this pick?

-ALLEN: I think the big thing is we identified that this was the type of player we wanted to add to our roster. He’s the type of player that we’re looking for and we talked about those things.

This is a guy that’s a football first guy. This is a guy that’s got tremendous work ethic. And this guy is a guy that’s a team player. And when you watch the tape and you see the production, he’s been a very productive player at the University of Buffalo.

He’ll be a great player and a very productive player for us.

-Q: How will he fit into this pass rush, will he be a wild card?

-ALLEN: He’s a nice chess piece to have. You can never have enough rushers in the National Football League. It’s all about affecting the quarterback and he can certainly do that. When you add him into the mix with some of the guys we were able to add this offseason I think we have helped out our pass rush a lot.

-Q: How Mack fit in with championship players?

-ALLEN: I think that’s huge. Obviously we brought these players in because we still feel they have a lot of football left to play and they can help us from a production standpoint.

Another reason why these guys are here is to help some of these young players to really develop the foundation for our football team as we continue to go into the future. I think adding those types of veterans will do nothing but help a guy like Khalil Mack have some success.

-Q: What did you see on the Ohio State film?

-McKENZIE: It showed the level of competition compared to some of the teams that are in his conference. The things that we saw on a weekly basis, as far as his ability to rush the passer, his ability to play strong at the line of scrimmage and his ability to kind of move around and do multiple things.

The guy has the size, he has the length, he’s got speed. He’s a playmaker. We’ll find a way to put him on the field and get some production out of him. That Ohio State game was just the tip of the iceberg.